Dan (biblical city)
| תל דן | |
Tel Dan - Remains of the Iron Age (Israelite) Gate on the City's South Wall
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 Shown within Israel
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| Alternate name | تل القاضي |
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| Location | Israel |
| Coordinates | 33°14′56″N 35°39′07″E / 33.249°N 35.652°E |
| Type | conserved ruins |
| History | |
| Founded | c. 4500 BC |
| Abandoned | c. 733 BC |
| Periods | Neolithic, Bronze, Iron |
| Cultures | Neolithic, Canaanite, Israelite |
| Site notes | |
| Public access | yes |
| Website | Tel Dan Nature Reserve |
Dan (Hebrew: דן), is a city mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, described as the northernmost city of the Kingdom of Israel, and belonging to the tribe of Dan. The city is identified with a tell located in northern Israel known as Tel Dan (תל דן "Mound of Dan") in Hebrew, or Tell el-Qadi (Arabic: تل القاضي "Mound of the Judge") in Arabic.
The American naval officer William F. Lynch identified Tell el Kadi as the site of ancient Dan in 1849. Three years later Edward Robinson made the same identification, and this identification is now securely accepted.
The Hebrew Bible states that prior to its conquest by the tribe of Dan the site was known as Laish with variant spellings within the Books of Joshua, Judges and Isaiah. In Joshua 19:47 it is called Leshem or Lesem, which means "jewel".Isaiah 10:30 has the alternative name Laishah in a number of translations.Tel Dan is a modern Israeli name for the site.
Dan is situated in Israel, in the area known as the Galilee Panhandle. To the west is the southern part of Mount Lebanon; to the east and north are the Hermon mountains. Melting snow from the Hermon mountains provides the majority of the water of the Jordan River, and passes through Dan, making the immediate area highly fertile. The lush vegetation that results makes the area around Dan seem somewhat out of place in the otherwise arid region around it. Due to its location close to the border with Syria and Lebanon at the far north of the territory which fell under the British Mandate of Palestine, the site has a long and often bitterly contested modern history, most recently during the 1967 Six-Day War.
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